16 ^z-^' 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 932 123 



^^-/^-^ '>^ 



t^^ 



BULLETIN OF THE WISCONSIN STATE 
BOARD OF INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION 



NO. 5 



Industrial and Continuation Schools 



THEIR FOUNDATION, ORGANIZATION, AND 

ADJUSTMENT TO THE LIFE OF 

THE COMMUNITY 



BY 



LOUIS E. REBER 

Dean, University Extension Division 
The University of Wisconsin 



MADISON 

Published by the Board 

1912 



f^'onoffraph 



V 



Wisconsin State Board of Industrial 
Education 



H. E. Miles, President 
Racine 

r^ouis E. Reber, Secretary 
Madison 

C. P. Caky, Madison 

Donna Dines, Milwaukee 

A. S. LiNDEMANN, Milwauis'ee 

Mert Malone, Oshkosli 

William M. Miller, Eau Claire 

F. E. TuBNEAURE, Madison 

E. E. Winch, Marshfield 



D. OF D. 
APR I 25 1913 



S: 



Industrial and Continuation Schools 



Their Foundation, Organization, and Adjustment to the Life of 
the Community* 



Defects of Present System 

Wisconsin in the adoption of a law designed to promote the es- 
tablisliment of industrial,- commercial, continuation, and even- 
ing schools'" recognizes the weakness of her present educational 
system, not only in its failure to hold an appallingly large i)er- 
centage of its l)oys and girls through the high school or even 
through the, 8th grade, but also in its lack of provision of further 
educational opportunity for these large numbers who have left 
school and are engaged in wage earning. 

When the early movement began wliich led to the introduction 
of the manual arts into the public schools, educators were already 
inquiring into the reasons for the rapid falling off of interest, 
which caused so many children, who were under no compulsion to 
support themselves or contribute to the support of their families, 
to leave school and begin work. During the intervening years 
the theory of industrial training has been preached to the world 
from every platform. We liave been told that as the primitive 
races began with simple agricultural, meclianical, and domestic 
activities, so should the child in Ids training begin with similar 
experiences — in his initial steps being taught to <h> things, after- 
ward finding all of his Ijook studies closely related to these funda- 
mental life operations, these action studies, which constitu.te the 
nuclevis around which the rest of his education should be built. 
Thus, said the theorizer, would the interest of the pupil be held 

* Paper read before the Wisconsin Association of City Superintendents 
and Supervising Principals at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 29, 1912, 
and printed by the State Jioard of Industrial Education at the request of 
the Association. 



because he would constantly realize the value of his school train- 
ing- as a preparation for life. 

In accordance with this admirable argument, it was believed 
that the introduction of courses of manual arts into the schools 
U^ould overcome the faults of the prevailing methods. But what 
lias been the fact? How has the theory been ap])lied in practice? 
The academic teaiaher readily recognized the appeal of manual 
training to the brain, but until recently, definitely repudiated the 
conception that the work might become a process of value in 
itself as a vocational asset. He was slow or unwilling to see that 
the general educational value of manual work might be retained 
and at the same time the kind of training which was demanded by 
the industrial world be secured. On account of this attitude on 
the part of the school force, little that was really worth while in 
the way of vocational education was brought into the schools, un- 
til it was forced in by the call of the industries for an educational 
schedule that would relate the pupil's ti'aining with his life expe- 
riences, or in other words, one that would make for etRciency. 

Following iipon the wave of enthusiasm which established courses 
in manual arts in schools throughout the country, and partly as 
a result of their partial failure, the attention of educators was 
directed toward the vocational schools of other countries, espec- 
ially those of Germany. Careful study of their great educational 
work, both in its application and its results, has helped us to real- 
ize the defects of our system and to determine the lirst steps to be 
taken in the direction of reform. Not onlj" do we now recognize 
the effective remedy in training for elliciency, but its application 
has been started with such power and momentum tlaat we believe 
the day is past when any force could arrest it. 

Inertia Opposed to Change 

The inevitable inertia encountered by every movement that 
works toward a change in a thoroughly established institution of 
many year's growth, is still to be overcome in a large measure. 
It is this inertia (or shall I call it loyalty to tradition?) that has 
made it difficult in many places to introduce industrial training in 
its full development into our established schools. It is to avoid 
the heedless waste of i>ower required to overcome tliis inertia, that 
the legislature in Wisconsin has provided a separate board of 
directors for the ' industrial, commercial, continuation, and even- 
ing schools" binding the established school system to the nrw by 



— 5 — 

making the Superintendent of Public Instruction a member of 
both boards and requiring that the new board shall be appointed 
by the old board. The wisdom of providing a board consisting of 
men engaged in industrial pursuits, employer and employed, is 
clear and does not necessarily convey a reproach to the established 
school force. 

Diffei'entiation in the grade and high schools designed to meet 
the needs of individual cases, will undoubtedly be brought about 
more simply and effectivelj', for a time at least, by the establish- 
ment of separate schools, under a management closely identified 
with the commercial and industrial interests of the community. 

The Influence of Lay Forces 

The fact that the industrial demand rather than pressure from 
academic forces is responsible for the present almost universal 
movement, has been amply demonstrated in a number of places. 

In Chicago, for example, the inquiry into the subject of indus- 
trial education, its needs in this country and its development 
abroad, now being made by Mr. E. G. Coolej' for the Commercial 
"Club, is without ({uestion a strong factor in the general movement, 
and in its published reports will ])resent a comprehensive and val- 
uable study of the entire problem. 

In Cincinnati, I think it is safe to say, that one of the chief in- 
"fluences which led the public schools to introduce effective indus- 
trial work, was observation of the successful operation of a small 
private industrial school for apprentices, maintained by certain 
•manufacturers. 

In Cleveland, the reorganization of the entire school system was 
brought about by the appointment of a committee made up 
largely of men interested in the industries. The school board 
which inaugurated the present system was elected for the purpose 
of carrying out the recommendations of this committee. The re- 
organization was in a measure forced into the schools with the re- 
sult that during the six years of its development, an opposition 
gathered which finally led to a condition which threatens to retard 
its advancement. This delay, however, can be only temporarj'. 
If industrial training should be removed from the schools, or if 
the Avork should not continue to progress, I believe the people 
would demonstrate at the next election their appreciation of, and 
belief in what has already been accomplished. Cleveland can not 
go backward in this work. She has gone too far in demonstrat- 
ing the value of vocationalized education. 



— 6 



In Indianapolis, where some excellent results have been ob- 
tained, I am told that the school men as a class have been con- 
servative in their endorsement of industrial teaching. The legis- 
lature of Indiana at its last session appointed an industrial com- 
mission to investigate the subject of industrial education for the 
purpose of recommending legislation. A few days ago this board 
called a meeting in the city of Indianapolis of those interested 
in the subject. Only three school men appeared, while the in- 
dustrial and commercial interests were fully represented. 

A recent communication from the Secretary of the Manu- 
facturers' Association of Iowa, describes the interest of this body 
in industrial education. The Association is so thoroughly 
aroused that it proposes to continue vigorously the agitation for 
industrial education until something definite is accomplished. 

In Massachusetts, both at Fitchburg and at Beverly, the coop- 
eration between the school and industrial establishments was- 
brought about largely through the initiative of manufactui'ers. 

The New York Central Railroad Company, by giving instruc- 
tion to its employes, has been for years setting an example of vo- 
cationalizing instruction by relating it to a given industry. Much 
may be learned similarly, from the schools of the General Electric 
Company, of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Com- 
pany, of the John Wanamaker Stores of Philadelphia and New 
York, and of many other farsighted corporations. 

Separate Boards Essential 

Examples might be multiplied, but enough has been said to- 
show that past experience supplies evidence that a system of in- 
dustrial education will probably be developed more rapidly and 
effectively if, though made a part of the public school system, it 
is managed by separate boards under conditions that will bring 
into requisition the experience and knowledge of those most di- 
rectly and personally interested — employer and employe — in the- 
results of vocational training. 

This new board, free from tradition, will not be tempted to or- 
ganize compromise classes in industrial subjects with teachers at- 
hand who are not well prepared to teach effectively from the point 
of view of the vocational recpiirements. The curriculum will not 
be passed upon by a large corps of teachers Mdio haTe not made a 
study of industrial conditions and industrial teaching, but will re- 
ceive the earnest attention of men who have been in a position to 



feel the failures of the established educational systems and to 
studj' the reasons that contribute to these failures. The city 
superintendent may be relied upon to standardize the course from 
the educator's point of view. A further safeguard in this direction 
is effected by the provision that the courses of study must be ap- 
proved by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction as well 
as bj'^ the State Board of Industrial Education, in order to secure 
state aid. 

i 

Continuation School Our Greatest Need 

In Wisconsin, as elsewhere in this country, the greatest present 
need is for the Continuation School. In Germany, at Munich, 
manual training, household arts, and laborator.y work in jihysics 
and chemistry ai'e introduced in the 8th grade, all taught with 
vocational applications, yet, in that city the Continuation School is 
compulsory for the youth in employment between the ages of four- 
teen and eighteen years. Irt our country, though we offer the child, 
except in a few places, no vocational training in his elementary 
course, we make no effort to give him after he has left school the 
opportunity for such further training as would make him a good 
and desirable citizen. Of the two-fold situation, then, the more 
pressing problem if not the more important, is that which relates 
to the armies of little-trained workers engaged in more or less 
remunerative occupations. 

Cause of Former Failures 

That so many of the continuation evening schools that have 
been started in the larger cities of the United States have not been 
successful is not surprising to one who gives the matter consider- 
ation. It is unreasonable to expect that the boys and girls who 
have dropped out of the schools early from lack of interest (and 
this is true of most of them) will, after beginning work, develop 
so great an interest as to desire to attend a school in the eve- 
ning, after a day of labor, similar to the day schools they have 
left. The only possible attraction for these Avorkers would be 
schools that offer training immediately applicable to their vocations. 
Furthermore, in justice to the weary employe, an effort should be 
made to arrange for day rather than evening sessions. 



The Wisconsin Apprenticeship Law 

An Act passed by the last Legislature in Wisconsin relating to 
apprentices, provides that every indenture shall contain an agree- 
ment stating the number of hours to be spent in work and the 
number of hours to be allowed for instruction, the total number 
of hours not to exceed fifty-five in one week. An agreement is 
required between the employer and apprentice that not less than 
five hours of the aforementioned fifty-five hours per week shall be 
devoted to instruction. This Act provides further, that attendance 
at the school shall be certified to by the teacher in charge of the 
course, and failure to attend shall subject the apprentice to the 
penalty of a loss of compensation of three hours for every hour 
that such apprentice shall be absent without good cause. 

Wisconsin's Compulsory " 1 4 to 16" Law 

Another Act provides that minors between the ages of 14 and 
16, working under permit as now provided by law, shall attend 
school not less than five houi-s per week for six months in each 
year, and every employer shall allow all minor employes over four- 
teen and under sixteen years of age a reduction in hours of work 
of not less than the number of hours the minor is required to 
attend school. Thus, to the extent provided for in these Acts and 
in the Act relating to illiteracy, continuation education is now 
compulsory in Wisconsin. 

Local Vocational Needs and Educational Adjustment 

The fundamental principle in the organization of industrial 
courses, whether for the boys and girls still in school or for those 
in occupations, requires that these courses shall meet the needs of 
the community. A careful survey should be made, therefore, of 
the community interests. 

The chart published by Mr. Bloomfield as a guide for those 
seeking information in order to advise young folk in the choice of 
vocations, will be found to be valuable in making a schedule for 
the industrial school in((uiries. The fallowing are some of the 
points that Mr. Bloomfield regards as important in their bearing 
upon the vocational needs of the individual. The plan will, of 
course, need to be modified to fit conditions in various communities. 



— 9 — 

Nature of Occupation 
Date of Inquiry 

Name of Firm 

Address 

Superintendent or Employment Manager 

Total number of employes }^^^^ , 
' ■' Female 

Number of boys ; girls 

Has there been a shifting in relative numbers of each? 
Pay 

Wages of various groups, and ages * 

Wages at beginning- 
Seasonal 
Hours per day 
Rate of Increase ^ 

a. On what dependent 

b. Time or piece payment— any premiums or bonus? 

Boys 

How are boys secured? t 

Their ages 

Previous jobs 

Previous schooling 

Are any continuing this training? Where? 

The Industry 

a. Physical conditions 

b. What variety of skill required? 

c. Description of processes (photos if possible) 

d. What special dangers 

Machinery 

Dust 

Moisture 

Hard Labor 

Strain 

Monotony 
Competitive conditions of industry 
Future of industry 
What chance for 

a. grammar school boy? 

b high school graduate? 

c. vocational school graduate? 
What opportunity for the worker to show what he can do in other 
departments? 

Tests 

What kind of boy is desired? 
What questions asked of applicant? 
What tests applied? 



— 10 — 



What records kept? (Collect all printed questionaires and records.) 

Union or non-union? 

Comment of Employer 

Comment of Foreman 

Comment of Boys 

Health Board comments 

Census Bureau Report on these Occupations in Wisconsin 



Number of 
establish- 
ments 


Capital 
invested 


Value 

of 
stoclc 


Wagres 
paid 


Averag'e 
earnings 


Males 
employed 


Females 


Value 

of 

product 



































To questions taken from this cliart the following- should be 
added: 

(1) What has become of the boys and girls who left school before com- 
pleting the 8th grade or the high school? 

(2) What was their degree of advancement in school? 

(3) How many of them would have remained in school if the courses 
were adapted to their needs? 

(4) How many of them would take advantage of continuation school 
opportunities? 

(5) How m'any persons, not included in this classification, would value 
continuation school opportunities? 

(6) Of those included in (4) and (5) how many could be reached by day 
schools? How many only by evening schools? 

From the information gained in a thorough survey, the schedule 
of studies to be adopted for any given locality should bo deter- 
mined. 



Three Problems for Continuation Education 

Tliree main classes of workers will be found to whose needs the 
continuation courses must be adapted. The first class comprises 
those persons deficient in earlj- education avIio are anxious to make 
up their deficiencies citlier in general culture or in such technical 
knowledge as will prepare tliem for advancement and increased 
earning power. The second class is made up of untrained but 
intelligent wage earners wlio will more or less readily recognize 
the value of opportitnities for self-improvement brought to their 
attention. The tliird class includes employed persons of retarded 
mental develoi)ment who have no ambition or desire for personal 
improvement and no appreciation of the possible value to them- 



— 11 — 

selves of training- for a vocation. The problems of continuation 
education for the first and second classes are easily solved, while 
the third class presents difficulties similar to the most discourag- 
ing with which the truancy officer contends in the established 
schools. For a time at least the economic value of effort expended 
•upon this class will not be apparent, either to themselves or to 
their employers. But it is this unambitious, sometimes indolent, 
often illiterate and drifting- population that constitutes the great- 
est menace to a community. Fortunately the solution of their 
problem is possible. In nine cases out of ten this element is re- 
cruited from the ranks of the children whose school experience 
was fruitless because it made no appeal to their tastes or abilities. 
Vocational direction and ojiportunities in their school days would 
ihave developed useful citizens, and in vocational training now lies 
a. possible hope of their regeneration. 

Enough has been said to sliow that the lirst class will eagerly seek 
the opportunities of the continuation school while the second and 
third classes will have to 'be sought. For the latter classes the 
the training- must be made to apply specifically and definitely to 
the occupation and tlie individual, enlarging its scope as the 
worker overcomes his liandicap and gains a normal interest in self- 
improvement. It is important to include as mucli as possible of 
study designed to improve the worker's capacity for enjoyment 
and general value as a social unit. 

The Subjects in the Munich Curriculum 

In ^Munich, the continuation school gives to its young machine 
workers instruction in the following subjects: Trade Calculation 
and Bookkeeping, one liour a week; Business Composition and 
Reading, one hour a week; Studies of Life and Citizenship, one 
hour a week; Mechanical Drawing, three hours a week; Physics 
and Mechanics, one hour a week, adding in the third year of the 
oourse — Machinery, one hour a week, and Materials, one liour a 
a week. This schedaie covers the various topics that should 
probably be given in our continuation schools for machinists, but, 
unfortunately, will generally be found to be too advanced. In 
many t'lases our industrial pupils will need to be taught beginner's 
mathematics, early lessons in English, and other branches of a de- 
■cidedly elementary character. 

To make our work effective, a large i)art of it will need to be 
given to individual students, or to small classes, on account of 



— 12 — 

the difference in preparation which tlie pupils have had. What, 
has been said of the machinist may be said of the worker in every 
other manual occupation. 

Semi-Vocational Schools 

In a community where no one industry is of sufficient impor- 
tance to determine the character of the vocational school, some- 
common element of the several industries should b3 made the 
basis of the vocationalizing- of the course. In many places it will 
be necessary to select a general trade, as for example, carpentry, 
as the foundation for vocational applications. The semi-voca- 
tional schools of Indianapolis and the elementary industrial schools 
of Cleveland, are excellent examples of successful vocationalizing', 
without application to any given industry, by methods that com- 
pel the interest of the pupils to a remarkable degree. In these 
schools the industrial and academic studies are so skillfully re- 
lated as to arouse in many pupils a desire to continue academic- 
woi'k after completing the industrial course. 

The elementary industrial school in Cleveland is an admirable 
example of the possibilities in this direction. This school Avas es- 
tablished for retarded children. It started with children from' 
the 6th grade, not under thirteen years of age, who were retarded' 
two years or more. While this school makes no applications to- 
local industries it vocationalizes all the subjects taught and relates 
them to the shop or other manual work which the pupils are do- 
ing. The results obtained are marvelous. The interest of the 
heretofore sluggish pupils is aroused, and thej' not only desire tO' 
remain in school through the grammar grades, but frequently- 
enter and complete the courses of the technical high school and 
occasionally the academic high school. The success of this work 
with retarded pupils illustrates the value of vocationalized training- 
in the development of latent possibilities. It is extremely inter- 
esting to observe further that graduates from the Technical High' 
School in Cleveland, though they have devoted a large proportion* 
of their time to shop processes at the expense of academic studies,, 
nevertheless, pass the examinations for college and carry the col- 
legiate studies quite as well as, or better than, the graduates of the- 
academic high schools. 

In Indianapolis recently, the same examination in multiplica- 
tion was given to 8th grade pupils of the semi-industrial and of 
the academic schools with the result of forty per cent perfect re- 



— 13 — 

turns from the seini-industrial ag-ainst four per cent perfect returns 
from the academic pupils. 

Educational Value of Shop Work 

I have always believed in the possible educational value of shop 
work, but after visiting- these modern industrial schools I am im- 
pressed anew with the importance of vocational training" on account 
of its effect upon the academic studies. No one who has observed 
the intense interest displaced by classes, we will say in mathema- 
tics, when the problems are applied to their shop exercises, can 
question the increased value which this application g-ives to the 
training-. Every teacher knows that in the teaching- of fractions 
through a problem which involves calculating- dimensions, the 
allowance for hnish, and all the information that may be related to 
a shop project, or anything upon which manual work is to be or has 
been done — every good teacher knows that a problem so treated 
can be made much more effective and stimulating- to the average 
pupil, than the unrelated problem, however specific and concrete. 
The same principle applies in the teaching of English, industrial 
geography, bookkeeping, chemistry, civics, and other subjects. 
To many pupils the only interest lies in the relation of these 
studies to action or observation. These are fundamental truths in 
the experience of all teachers, but especially of the industrial 
teacher. 

Necessary Variation in the Industrial Curriculum 

It will be found that the industrial courses needed and those 
asked for, will not always be the same. A careful study of a 
conscientious survey should enable the board to determine the ac- 
tual needs of a community and the best methods by which to meet 
them. Great care should be exercised, however, not to introduce 
studies in the curriculum, however much they may be needed, for 
which no suitable teacher is available. It is especially important 
in the first stages of this development to attempt nothing that can- 
not be done well. 

The Working Plant as Laboratory 

In the provision of schedules for workers in specific industries, 
it is probable that the pupil should be reciuired to take this train- 
ing in the practical processes of the industry, at the working plant. 
The cooperation between the employer and the school should be so 



— 14 — 

close that the association of the related studies with the manual 
processes will be maintained. To accomplish this association the 
teacher will find it necessary to keep in touch with the work in 
the shop, while the employer or his representative will not fail to 
visit the school. Where possible, industrial equipment (working: 
machinery) should be provided at the schools for instruction in the 
educational phases of the practice which it might be difficult to give 
at the works. Too much stress cannot be laid, however, upon the 
importance of keeping; in touch with the operations at the plant 
and everything- that relates to them. 

There is no reason why the equipment now used by the schools 
in their regular instruction, when adapted lo the needs of the 
pupils, should not be used for industrial instruction also, by sched- 
uling the industrial classes at times when the equipment is avail- 
able. Of course, this implies sympathetic relations between the 
school board and the industrial education board. As the latter 
is appointed by the former and as the city superintendent is equally 
interested in both departments of work, there should be no diffi- 
culty experienced in adJTisting the relations of the two. Every 
effort shovild be made to avoid unnecessary expense. If the new 
schools are made financially burdensome they will not receive the 
support necessary to insure their success. 

Qualifications of the Industrial Teacher 

Discussion of the qualifications required in the industrial teacher 
should be given a larger space than I may impose upon you at the 
present time. The matter is one of essential and vital importance. 

As bearing upon the subject, it may be of value to consider the 
following observations made by an instructor, who is teaching high 
school boys and an evening continuation class. The writer is a 
shop trained man and an excellent teacher. His report came to me 
voluntarily. He presents forcibly certain fundamental principles. 

"The question as to whether shopboj'S or schoolboys make the 
best students in mechanical drawing, has been brought to me sev- 
eral times. Also, the question as to whether boys who have had 
manual training, show any particular advantage over other boys. 
While my experience with schoolboys is somewhat limited, com- 
pared with my experience with shopboys, I am certain of one 
thing and that is this; it is much easier to teach mechanical draw- 
ing to shopboys than to schoolboys, even though the schoolboy's 
education is considerably greater than that of his shop companion. 



— 15 — 

One of the reasons for this is that the shopboy is usually working 
in direct line with the kind of object he draws, and consequently 
it is easier for him to comprehend the reason for makings certain 
views, the dimensioning of same, etc. However, I think that the 
main reason for this seemingly reverse condition is because the dis- 
cipline of the shopboy and of the schoolboy is different. 

"The schoolboy's idea is that he should be told all the facts. 
The shopboy has been taught to use his own judgment and to rea- 
son out the many facts he does not know from the few he does 
know. Consecpiently, when it comes to a question of judgment 
or of following instructions accurately the shop discipline of the 
shopboy makes him the bast man. The schoolboy's main question 
is 'how'?' The shopboy's main question is 'Why?' 

"The schoolboy has had the advantage of a teaclier always pres- 
ent to help liim every time he strikes a difficult problem, and there- 
fore, seldom develops that quality of self-reliance found in the av- 
erage sliopboy. , 

"The (luestion of accuracy might be brought up also. The shop- 
boy usually sees the necessity of accuracy; the schoolboy too often 
does not. Much of his regular school work demands fully as much 
accuracy, but he takes that as a matter of course, and seldom seems 
to think that it is necessary in practical work. 

"This is also often true of the boy who has had manual training. 
Manual training drawing does not require as much detail work as 
the machine shop drawing, and I do not believe that the question 
of accuracy is brought to bear upon the boy's work as much as in 
machine shop drawing. I have learned from experience that if a 
boy has been in the habit of doing careless work, it is difficult to 
break him of tlie habit. While in practical work he may become 
known as a fast workman, he will also get the reputation of doing 
rough and inaccurate work. Accuracy is an absolute necessity in 
making good drawings of machine details. 

"I cannot say that boys who have iiad manual training work 
show any pirti.uilat- advantag3 over the other boys. While 
manual training drawing is also a form of mechanical drawing, 
since the drawings are made by the use of the Tee square and tri- 
angles, the style of some of the lines, figures, arrow heads, etc., 
is generally different from those used in practical machine draw- 
ing, Conse(piently, the boy wlio has had manual training draw- 
ing finds it difficult for some time to get used to the new condi- 
tions brought out in the machine drawing. Unless the manual 



— 16 — 

training boy has had two or three years of manual training, he 
seldom shows any advantag-e over other schoolboys or shopboys. 

"Comparing- shopboys and schoolboys as a whole, the shop- 
boy is more settled in his Avays and does not expect the same atten- 
tion as the schoolboy. The schoolboy is more sensitive — par- 
ticularly' the young ones — and a proper amount of encouragement 
is an essential factor in gaining the best results from him. The 
shopboy is used to bumps' and seldom looks for encouragement. 

"itseem'S tome, therefore, that the main reason for these dif- 
ferences is that the 'practical discipline' Avhich the shopboy has 
had, makes itself felt in the school room, and this indicates that 
practical courses by practical men are what are needed for the 
successful development of both schoolboys and shopboys, if they 
are to become practical men." 

In my judgment, the "practical man" from whom I have quoted 
the foregoing opinion is correct in his deductions. I do not believe 
that an instructor can be reallj' efficient in teaching shop mathemat- 
ics, for example, if he has not done shop work in a working plant. 
The actual experience in shop practice gives the teacher not only 
the shop technique but also a useful appreciation of the conditions 
of shop life which the boj's must meet in their daily work. Men 
who have had experience in industrial teaching appreciate tlie ab- 
solute importance of this special preparation. For instance, the 
success of Y. M. C. A. directors, whose evening schools for a long 
time were more successful perhaps than any others, is largely at- 
tributable to the fact that their industrial classes are taught by in- 
dustrially^ trained men. In fact, Avherever successful vocational 
teaching is found, there will universally be found the teacher who 
can point to his practical training. Of course one would not argue 
that a teacher thoroughly trained pedagogically who has had prac- 
tical experience as well, might not make the best instructor, yet 
very often the shop atmosphere and shop attitude of mind are 
drilled out of the pedagogue and he becomes inefficient for in- 
struction of the kind needed in vocational schools. 

Mr. Stetson, Principal of the Central Grammar School of Grand 
Rapids, in a recent article, makes the following comment upon 
the teachers in the Grand Rapids evening vocational schools. 
They have twenty-four teachers who are expert workmen. He 
says, 'One is a blacksmith, another holds a Union card as a 
machinist, six are dressmakers, another -a carpenter, and so on 
through tlio list. They are not ham])ered by any pedagogical 



— 17 



precepts. The useless matter of tlie subject is at once apparent 
to them. These teachers appeal to the student because they are 
•everyday workers in the trade the student is trying to learn. 
For example, the teacher of mechanical drawing- in the evening 
high school is a graduate of a university and works by daj' as a 
■draftsman in a large factory. When he enters his class he re- 
removes his coat and talks to the pupils in a language they under- 
stand and in away a professional teacher could not." No evening- 
school can hope to be successful," he continues, ' unless it breaks 
away from the traditional methods and teachers and employs teach- 
ers who can give the pui)ils what they wish. The theatre, the 
■dance, the companionship of friends, all beckon to the young 
people determined to give their evenings to school. Efforts to 
hold them at their work are not successful without the constant 
advice of one who iinderstands their problems." 

What Mr. Stetson says of his school applies e(iually well to any 
vocational school and unless this is thoroughly appreciated by 
those in whose hands is placed the responsibility of selecting the 
teachers for our vocational schools under the new law, these schools 
will not succeed. I should prefer to see few classes started with 
the right kind of teachers, than many classes with teachers of 
uncertain qualifications. There is that something that comes to 
the man who has done work in a practical waj' in the atmosphere 
of the working plant, rubbing up against other men engaged in 
the serious occupation of earning their daily bread, that cannot be 
gained in any school shop. Probably no one here has a higher 
appreciation of the value of the training of the industrial schools 
for teachers than have I, but I do not believe that they can supply 
•competent teachers of industrial subjects in vocational schools 
without requiring experience in a working plant as part of the 
teacher's preparation. 

A few days ago I visited a school in a large manufacturing com- 
pany in one of the leading cities of the country. The school was 
in charge of a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 
ogy and had been organized only a few months. The course of 
instruction as mapped out covered three years. In my judgment 
it did not compare favorably with courses in similar and successful 
corporation schools. Upon in<iuiry it was found that the in- 
structor who prepared the course had had no shop experience ex- 
cept tliat gained in his college course. I feel safe in predicting 
that if that school is successful it will be with a less academic 



18 — 



schedule of instruction than the one now in operation. If in a 
corporation school developed by a technically trained teacher, a 
mistake of this nature can be made, how essential it would seem 
to be that the teachers selected for Wisconsin's industrial schools 
fhall be drawn from the ranks of the industrial workers. 

The Problem of Instructional Texts 

It is an interestin^i' fact that the most successful vocational 
schools are preparing- their own instructional texts. Where it is 
possible to secure teachers capable of performing this requirement 
it would seem to be the best method to follow, as standardization 
of lessons is not to be desired. The personal equation of the 
teacher must enter into his work in a manner not possible with 
standardized texts. For a long- time to come, however, it will not 
be possible as a rule to secure teachers who will be independent of 
at least partial texts in their class work. These should be iised 
only as guides, however, with the aid of which the teacher will 
work out his own conceptions of the subject. 

The practice of holding up to all classes of students, regardless 
of ability and attitude, the prize of remunerative and important 
positions is baneful. It is a temptation to be rigidly avoided. 
Where there is capacity for higher achievement the student must, 
of course, be encouraged to Avork for tlie larger opportunity; this 
method of education should and does discover latent powers; but 
the attempt to make lawyers, doctors, or teachers, of men qualified 
to excel only in mechanical labors, has led to many a misfit and 
the discouragement and ruin of good men. 

Wisely vocationalized public schools and well organized contin- 
uation schools will do much towards dignifying all occupations,. 
and thus will create contented and happy classes where discontent 
now frequently exists. 



illllllliilllillllililllllililllliiillliillli 
029 932 123 fl 



